Time Machine vs. Retrospect Express

I just bought a Mac Mini and an external hard drive to utilize Time Machine. The external hard drive comes with Retrospect Express, and I'm wondering if there's any point in installing it.
Is there a consensus on which is better?

Personally I don't use TM because of its reliability problems. Retrospect is a better choice in my opinion. Unfortunately, I don't believe Retrospect Express can create a bootable backup. Other alternatives include:
Backup Software Recommendations
My personal recommendations are (order is not significant):
1. Retrospect Desktop (Commercial - not yet universal binary)
2. Synchronize! Pro X (Commercial)
3. Synk (Backup, Standard, or Pro)
4. Deja Vu (Shareware)
5. Carbon Copy Cloner (Donationware)
6. SuperDuper! (Commercial)
7. Intego Personal Backup (Commercial)
8. Data Backup (Commercial)
Also read How to Back Up and Restore Your Files.
If using TM is your choice then you do not need to install Retrospect Express.

Similar Messages

Has anyone had had success with Time Machine and Airport Express 6th gen?

For the last six months I have attempted to use the Time Machine product to provide first level backup for my two MacBook Airs and iMac. Tryed a number of powered USB drives, tryed all of the current 10.8, 10.9 OSX software. The Time Machine product seems to work for about a month to six weeks and then fails with message about the file integrity or access problems. In all cases I can acess files on the drive and the only application that struugles with the AE usb drive is Time Machine.
You would think that if it works for a month it should work for a year?
I have purchased Carbon Copy Cloner and it seems to function without a problem and I think that I am probably better off with a once a day clone than a Time Machine with data integrity problems.
Has anyone had long term success with Time Machine and AE sixth gen?

You are connecting a USB hard disk to the new 802.11ac AirPort Extreme, not an Express, correct? If so, it works fine with both bus powered and self-powered drive enclosures, and I have no immediate explanation for what's going on.
You would think that if it works for a month it should work for a year?
Yes, besides the passage of time the only thing that is changing is the amount of available space on the backup volume, which could be a factor. Are you using separate drives for each Mac, or are they all being backed up to the same drive? If it's only one drive, is it partitioned or are they all sharing a single partition?
Are you sharing backup volumes with other, non-Time Machine files? That shouldn't cause the problem, but it's not a good idea.
What errors are being logged in system.log? Filter for backupd to find all Time-Machine related entries.

Networking time machine to airport express

i am trying to extend my wirelass to my barn.
i bought a 328ft cat6a patch cable and am planning to bury it.
i want to keep the time machine (A1355) in the house and have the express (A1084) in the barn.
before doing so, i plugged it into the back of my time machine in the second port (i have a microcell cellular booster plugged into the first) and then into the airport express.
ignorantly, i thought it would be that easy.
now, when plugged in, i can't use either network. i'm sure it's some setup procedure that i just can't figure out.
i unplugged so that i can beg for help. Bob Timmons, you seem to be the answer man. Please help.
thanks

Do you have another Mac there that is using the Leopard or Snow Leopard operating system, or a PC?
One of these computers will be needed to set up the AirPort Express A1084 that you have, since Mavericks (10.9.1) does not support the older versions of the Express.
Apple, of course, wants you to buy a new Express, which would provide about twice the performance of the older A1084....and it will ony take a minute or two to setup with your Mavericks Mac.

Can I use time machine through airport express and an external hard drive?

I want to be able to use time machine remotely. I own a WD 1TB passport external hard drive. If I connect it to an airport express, will it backup my macbook pro?

Not sure what you mean by "remotely". Remotely on your network, or remotely over the Internet?
In either case, the AirPort Express does not support a hard drive. You would need an AirPort Extreme for that.
Trying to use Time Machine over the Internet is incredibly slow and unreliable. Remember, you are uploading. Upload speeds are often 10 times slower than download speeds with most Internet Service Providers.

Time Machine and Airport Express

Got Time Machine to work with a Mini and my AEBS after the 7.3.1 upgrade. Did the full initial backup with no problem. However, I then had my Macbook backing up to the same AEBS and USB drive for several hours and the Mini's Time Machine tried and failed to do an incremental backup. Now I get a "disk is read only" error when I tried do perform a Time Machine backup and the error message recommends reformatting the drive. I'm now verifying the disk with Disk Utility.
1. Has anyone been able to have two Macs share an AEBS drive for Time machine without conflicts?
2. I initially set up each Mac on a separate partition on the USB drive. Is that recommended or should they share a partition?

In theory it should work, but I don't think you need to partition the drive as TM should manage each drive's backup separately.
Time Machine Troubleshooting
Here are several articles to help troubleshoot Time Machine Problems as well as assist in properly setting up Time Machine.
Mac 101- Using Time Machine in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
Is Time Machine all you need?
Some advice for those using Time Machine
TidBITS Macs & Mac OS X- Time Machine- The Good, the Bad, and the Missing Features
Mac OS X 10.5- Time Machine backups are not visible
OS X 10.5- Time Machine stops backing up to external disk
10.5- Disable the 'use this disk?' Time Machine dialog
Time Machine tips and troubleshooting
Mac OS X 10.5 Help- Restoring files backed up with Time Machine
OS X 10.5- Using Time Machine and troubleshooting Time Machine issues

Air port can no longer detect Time machine or Airport express

I have a Time capsule (last generation) and an Airport Express. TIme capsule was set up a few months ago and working fine. Today I tried to Add the Airport express to the network to use it in another room. Everything semed to work OK and I got the message that the system is added successfully and waiting for AExpress to start. It took for ever so I opened the AIrport utility window again and try to re do i. I am not sure what I did wrong I can no longer detect either of my device with Airport utility to set up a secure network. MY Internet connection is fine and I can connect using the AIrport to other networks that Airport detects in the area fine also. I just don´t see the net work I configured or the devices. I sure would like to know how it got messed up and how to get out of this. I have tried unplugging and restating the time capsule etc as they suggest in Apple manuel. But I have not tried resetting the time capsule. Would this erase the back ups it already has? Please help.

I have a Time capsule (last generation) and an Airport Express. TIme capsule was set up a few months ago and working fine. Today I tried to Add the Airport express to the network to use it in another room. Everything semed to work OK and I got the message that the system is added successfully and waiting for AExpress to start. It took for ever so I opened the AIrport utility window again and try to re do i. I am not sure what I did wrong I can no longer detect either of my device with Airport utility to set up a secure network. MY Internet connection is fine and I can connect using the AIrport to other networks that Airport detects in the area fine also. I just don´t see the net work I configured or the devices. I sure would like to know how it got messed up and how to get out of this. I have tried unplugging and restating the time capsule etc as they suggest in Apple manuel. But I have not tried resetting the time capsule. Would this erase the back ups it already has? Please help.

10.5.8 - Horrible update problems, Time Machine failures

I've just had the singular worst experience involving a Mac that I've ever had. I don't think anyone can actually fix what is wrong with my computer anymore, but I feel the need to describe my experience. Perhaps someone out there can tell me what went wrong, where, so at the very least this isn't repeated.
I came into work this morning, unlocked the screen of my Mac Pro, and the software update bouncing icon was letting me know that I still hadn't installed the 10.5.8 update. I figured, okay, fine, while I make some coffee let's do the update. Software Update does its thing, restarts my computer, and, boom, I'm back at a login screen.
I log in to the computer, and I have the default Leopard background. Not only that, but I notice that my dock icons are the default Leopard icons. Now I'm nervous, so I check out the finder. Yep, nothing in my home directory. I do, however, see a sparse bundle. I double-click on the sparse bundle, enter my user password, and voila; there is everything that should have been in my home directory.
I figure this has to be some kind of reasonably simple problem with recognizing a File Vault home directory. I then proceed to do what many Mac users have to do with every single OS update; go download the combo update and pray. After downloading the 800 MB combo update, I install it, reboot, and find that I still have the same problem. On advice that I found on the Internet, I try rebooting in Safe Mode, reinstalling the combo update, and logging in again. Still no dice.
This is where things get really fun. I think to myself; this is horrible, but I have Time Machine! I can just restore the machine to before I installed the update. After poking around, I find my Leopard install disc, order the machine to reboot with the disc as a startup volume, and away I go. Here's where I made my first mistake (that I'm aware of!). I went to the system restore utility, and it informed me that it would wipe the hard drive.
At this point, alarm bells should have been going off. After all, it was clear that nothing was working the way it should. Unfortunately, I had utter faith in Time Machine; I mean, what's the point of a backup utility that you can't trust, right? So I say, hey, sure, go blow away my hard drive. At this point, I go to have lunch while it does its magic (because, yes, trying unsuccessfully to fix the problem took my entire morning away from me).
When I come back, I'm thinking to myself, "maybe I should have backed that sparse bundle up to a spare drive just in case . . .". Sure enough, I restart, and just like before, I have an empty home folder. The only difference is that, this time, there is no sparse bundle. There is no record on Time Machine of any backups of my home directory. Not only that, but even though I restored to one hour before the 10.5.8 update, the files on my machine are no longer the correct versions.
I work on my development files out a subdirectory of /opt (don't ask). I go in to the subdirectory, check the Git repository, and find out that I'm 7 commits behind the master. This is odd, I figure, since I restored to one hour before the update and I haven't even touched the computer since Friday.
So, here are the problems I faced:
1) The 10.5.8 update completely ruined my system's ability to access my Filevault protected home directory
2) The 10.5.8 update apparently does not allow Time Machine to make a current backup of the user's home directory (as is normally done as part of the shutdown procedure - this is the only explanation I have for why Time Machine did not have a record of my home directory)
3) Time Machine did not restore the correct version of my hard drive's files
4) Time Machine did not keep a record of my home directory, AT ALL
So far now I've lost roughly three quarters of a day of work, and I will lose at least another day or two as I try to track down what versions of my files Time Machine actually restored, try to incorporate any necessary changes to those files that were passed over by the system restore, try to find a backup of my home directory that is not from Time Machine (which will, because these backups are more irregular, mean that I'll still have at least week old files and thereby lose a full week of work for anything not committed to a repository - at least I can be thankful that I do have other home directory backups, and that I don't rely on Time Machine for everything - if I did, I'd be completely hosed), and then proceed to get my machine back to a reconfigured, workable state.
The question that presents itself is when, if ever, should I contemplate doing the 10.5.8 update again. I will now forever be terrified of Apple OS updates; I can't believe the amount of work that has already been lost to this nightmare, and the amount of work I am going to have to do in the coming days to clean up this mess. If I could have pinpointed what would be the worst possible update scenario I could think of, this would be pretty close.
I hope no one else has faced any similar problems in their recent updates, but if they have I would certainly like to hear from them regarding what they did to alleviate the issues.
Thanks for reading and in advance for any help, advice, or considerations for the future you can provide.

baltwo wrote:
A Time Machine backup is only as good as what can be restored ...
This much is true of any backup.
... since the backup isn't checkable until you restore it
Fully checking a clone (IOW, not just that it will function as a startup disk but also that all the files it contains are readable or usable) is extremely time consuming. And since it is a duplicate of the volume it is backing up, it can & usually will inherit any problems of that source, especially if the copy method is a block (as opposed to file) copy. For this reason, I use SuperDuper! to make my clones, since unlike CCC or Disk Utility it always does a safer if slower file copy.
However, there is still the problem that the clone will not automatically contain a file or container (folder or package) inadvertently erased or replaced with another one of the same name on the source, or a good copy of one that has been damaged on the source since it was installed or created. IOW, a clone is a snapshot of the source volume state +at only one moment in time+ -- including any problems or omissions of that source at that moment in time.
Archival backups like those made by Time Machine or Retrospect are different: as these product names suggest, they can back up the state of the source volume at many different moments in time to one backup volume. Moreover, particularly with Time Machine, they make it quick & easy to locate a particular version of some backed up item & restore it if needed. With Time Machine at least, one has the option of replacing an item or keeping both versions, with one renamed with an "(original)" suffix, since this kind of restore is basically a Finder copy. Occasionally "entering" Time Machine's galaxy timeline interface should make it obvious if things are being backed up or not. For instance, if there is no home folder in /Users/ for some user account, it is obvious that account isn't being backed up.
Unfortunately, everything changes for FileVault encrypted home folders. You may not even see the encrypted home folder in a Finder view of the Time Machine backup. When you turn on FileVault for an account, you get a warning about its consequences for Time Machine backups:
+Time Machine backs up home folders protected by FileVault only when logged out. You cannot browse items of the protected home folder in the Time Machine backup. Because you cannot browse the items in the Time Machine backup, you cannot restore individual items.+
IMO this makes Time Machine a poor choice for archival backups of FileVault home folders.

Retrospect Express to Time Machine

Hello. I will be upgrading shortly to a new iMac. I presently am using Retrospect Express (RE) on my eMac for backup. I assume it will be better to use the Apple Time Machine backup with the iMac. Can someone comment on this and also advise me how to do it, ie: would I just delete all RE from my eMac prior to transferring all my files to the iMac? Hope someone can help. Thanks.

Ahh, I can see how my comment may have been confusing then.
What I was recommending was:
1) make a time machine backup on an external drive on the eMac (if you have enough space)
2) when the new Mac arrives and you boot it up, there will be the welcome screen for the installation
3) this screen has a menu at the top, with an Utilities pulldown, and in that is an option to restore from time machine backup
4) the next step (first time machine restore screen) has a little 'gotcha' in that you have to actually click the HD for your new computer in order to be able to continue
It will then just simply put the whole eMac backup onto the new computer, including apps and everything.
This may work or may not work, depending on how the old installation can deal with the new hardware ... but since it is so simple, it may be worth a try, because if it works, you'll be at home on the new machine within an hour so.
If it does not work you can boot from the install CDs that come with the new Mac, do a clean fresh Snow Leopard install and then migrate just your user data to the new computer (as rkaufmann recommended). This can be done via ad-hoc firewire network (as far as I know you can just hook two Macs together via firewire cable and use the Migration Assistant from the Applications,Utilities folder) or also from a time machine backup.
Makes sense? If not, please simply ignore my posts. What rkaufmann says above makes perfect sense too, I was merely offering that a complete restore was quite simple and thus may be worth trying to just move the whole machine forward that way.
And I second him that time machine is a good thing to have, not matter what kind of import (full with app or data only) you do. Apple really makes it easy with TM.
Message was edited by: Shimodax

My external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive. Same thing has happened with Final Cut Express.

My new LaCie external hard drive is 'seen' by my iMac and I can go into the Finder and open files and folders. I am using the hard drive for Time Machine back up. However Time Machine says it can't find the drive.
The same thing happened recently between Final Cut Express and my other LaCie external hard drive used as the Scratch disk. It fixed itself.
I've run out of ideas. Help would be very much appreciated. Thanks.

have you done some searches on FCPx and time machine? Is there a known issue with using a TM drive with FCPx? dunno but ...wait...I'll take 60 sec for you cause I'm just that kind of guy.... google...." fcpx time machine problem" Frist page link
http://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/fcpx-bug-best-practices-for-using-external-hard- drives-and-final-cut-pro-x/
You cannot have time machine backups on your hard drive if you intend to use it in FCPX.
booya!

How do I use a Mac Mini + Airport Express + Time Machine disk to backup another iMac

How do I use a Mac Mini + Airport Express + Time Machine disk to backup another iMac?
The question pretty much says it all.
I have a Mac Mini with an attached 3TB Hard Drive used for Time Machine Backups.
I have an Airport Extreme base station which services that machine plus several others.
I would like to backup my new iMac and a MacBook Pro to the Mac Mini.
What do I need to do on the mini to export that hard drive so that it can be used as a Time Machine target from the other systems?
All systems are running 10.6.8.

Well you would have to do backups over a network which is much slower and has highest chance of becoming corrupt. I think your best option would be to get an apple time capsule to act as a network and back if thats how you wanna do that

I have a Airport Time Machine at my computer, a Airport Extreme in the kitchen, and I want to set-up my Airport Express in my second office. How is this done so all show 4 bars on my iPhone?

I have a Airport Time Machine at my desk in the office with the router, a Airport Extreme to have WiFI in the kitchen connected by my ethernet, and I have a Airport Express in my second business office connected to the ethernet thru a switch.
Will this all work? And what is the best configuration?
Do I connect my Express to the Ethernet? From the installation notes it seems I do, but I'm not sure?
Any help on these is appreciated?
NoviceJM

It is on DHCP & NAT under router mode yet my isp is still the one issuing ip addresses to my devices instead of the router issuing them

Trying to reconnect airport express to time machine but express not showing up in base station. unfortunately clicked forgot in airport utility and express no longer shows up. how to reconnect?

trying to reconnect airport express to time machine but express not showing up in base station. unfortunately clicked forgot in airport utility and express no longer shows up. how to reconnect?

I would recommend setting the wireless encryption on the AirPort Express BEFORE configuring it for the AirPort Extreme in this case. This issue also comes up often when configuring AirPorts into a WDS.
If setting up security in my recommend order does not work, temporarily connect the Express by Ethernet to the Extreme; make the security changes, and then, move the Express back to the desired location.

Airport Express with printer & hard drive with Time Machine

I have a MacBook that I'd like to backup its data. Concerned about the following (in level of concern from highest to lowest): theft, crash, fire.
I currently have an Airport Express with a Brother printer attached to it that my PC and MacBook print to.
I am really in a dilemma as to what to do. I was looking into Carbonite to get an offsite backup location of my data. (I figured offsite would cover all concerns of losing data due to theft, fire, or just a crash) However, Carbonite does not hold onto data you delete (ie, my photos and videos will fill up my hard drive eventually and I'd like to just archive them in one central spot when I am done accessing them on a regular basis-- ie delete them off my MacBook hard drive). That is like $55/year to do Carbonite... but, the only thing that will help me with over a hard drive in my house is a fire (and theft if a burglar were to find where my backup drive was in the house).-- Of course, I'd probably want a different location for my hard drive for that reason -- so, I'd have to buy another airport or just a time machine that has the wifi built in.
I've read lots of issues with the Western Digital trying to download programs onto your computer... I have one for my PC that I backed up photos manually and it did try to install programs when I attached it to my PC... not so much my Mac when I took some photos off it. I looked into getting another portable hard drive at Costco for my Mac, but realized that it would require reformatting to use on my Mac (as it was built for a PC).... something I wasn't sure if I was computer-savvy enough to do or if I did do it, would I end up with issues later on?
Anyhow... in the end, what do you all do to backup your data, especially photos and videos? Do you have smaller hard drives that you back up to and then when full move them to an offsite location? Can you have more than one "hard drive" backing up..... I was thinking it would be nice to have one larger hard drive that would potentially hold all my photos and videos so I can access anytime, but then have smaller drives of the same data that I can take to a safe deposit box and use as my super secure backup (no fire, no theft, no crash).
btw, When doing time machine, does it keep all the metadata with each photo?
Burning CD's is time consuming.... and, I have heard there are different qualities of disks out there... archival v. not... how long do the archival last v. the non-archival... or is that more of an issue for future generations not being able to access our photos?

You need to remember that the Time Capsule is both a wireless router and a hard drive all in one enclosure. If you don't need a wireless router, around $150 of the $300 for a Time Capsule is going to be in the router portion of the device.
The nice thing about the Time Capsule is that it is a network drive. All Macs running Leopard or Snow Leopard will be able to back up automatically to a single device. The first generation of Time Capsules about two years ago had some power supply problems that affected some users. Apple announced a program for these users to replace their Time Capsules.
So, it depends on your requirements. If you are looking for a new, dual band wireless router and want to backup your Macs running Leopard or Snow Leopard automatically using ethernet or wireless, the Time Capsule is a logical choice.
If you don't need a new router, then you'll need to look at a separate hard drive that will be attached directly to the computer using the USB or FireWire port. If you have two Macs, you'll have to get two hard drives if you want to do Time Machine backups correctly.
Most hard drives can be reformatted to work with Mac if you don't mind a few extra steps and Disk Utility (Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility) does not look too complicated for you.
Message was edited by: Bob Timmons

If I already have an Airport Express Base Station, can i hook an external hard drive into it's USB port and use that hard drive with Time Machine?

If I already have an Airport Express Base Station, can i hook an external hard drive into it's USB port and use that hard drive with Time Machine?

No, and that shouldn't be done with an AirPort Extreme or Time Capsule.
(66017)

Have networked external drive for backup. 3 Macs, 1 iMac, 2 MBPros. I'm using Airport Express net'd to Extreme(my router). Ethernet from Express to Seagate Central. Since Maverick Time machine has become unstable, what can I do?

Have 2 almost new Mac Book Pros & a 27" March '13 iMac. All are 10.9.4. Wireless backup for all had been functioning well until Maverick was installed in all three. Airport Extreme is my router, Express connected to Seagate Central 4TB ext drive wirelessly. Wireless sig levels are maxed out at all 3 systems & Time Machine is now unstable and Apple Care networking tech contact says my config is not supported. Will it be supported if I acquire the new Airport Extreme, replacing the older version? If not, what config will permit 3 systems running TM backups every hour to one backup drive?

Apple do not support Time Machine to the older Gen1-5 AE with a USB drive.
I am not even sure if they support Gen6 although they do now say it will work.
You would be better buying a Time Capsule than another AE.. it is much faster than using USB drives and Apple more likely to help you.. if help is possible on mavericks.
You will find a cheaper solution is to use Carbon Copy Cloner.. which can continue using your existing setup.. it costs $40 for a license to cover all the computers in your home.

Time Machine vs. Retrospect Express

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